I bought an AK. It's an SAR 1 and my AR is jealous I can tell.
Seriously...My impressions of the AK are this. You can tell it was made for ease of use and reliability. It is a nice size. It is better than the Mini 14[:D], and Stoner designed a much better rifle.(I'm still biased.)

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.~Ronald Reagan

Better than the Mini-14??? You are insane. The Ruger is a much better/nicer gun.
I remember the good old days when you could buy all the AK-47s you wanted for $250 each. You had to pay about $325 for a Mini-14. There was no comparison. Anybody with the extra cash would buy the Ruger in a heartbeat. People are just down on Ruger for political reasons now, for the most part.

Originally Posted By retrodog:
Better than the Mini-14??? You are insane. The Ruger is a much better/nicer gun.

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There's a difference? Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The mini also throws its brass into the next county, is just as inaccurate, the safety is just as unhandy, [b]but[/b] you don't have to be bothered with those unhandy, ungainly long magazines, unless you want to pay a fortune for them. Five shots is enough for the peasantry, eh, Bill?

"There's a difference? Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The mini also throws its brass into the next county, is just as inaccurate, the safety is just as unhandy, but you don't have to be bothered with those unhandy, ungainly long magazines, unless you want to pay a fortune for them. Five shots is enough for the peasantry, eh, Bill?" Posted by Beekeeper1
The name's not really Bill. But that's a pretty good name though. I've got a preban that I purchased back in 87-88. It shoots great. The magazines have never been a problem. You are just a shining example of all the devout anti-Ruger snobs posting on this site. The Mini-14 is a damn fine rifle. I've got AKs and ARs and all sorts of other things. The Mini-14 has been just as reliable as anything else.
Maybe you are into precision target shooting. Whatever! I can easily hit prime spots on a target at 100 yards with the Mini-14 and it's action is rock-solid. It does just exactly what it was designed for. And it is built with much more quality and structural integrity than the AK.

First, you cannot compare the Mini-14 to the SAR1, they are not the same Caliber. Now, you can compar the mini-14 to the AR, and the mini will get it's ass spanked all day long.
You can also compare the Mini-30 to the AK.
Man I say the Mini is a bad buy today just for the mags.
NEW 30 round AK mags can be had for $8, and perfect used ones for $6. These mags all function flawlessly.
Mini-14/30 mags from ruger are $85 and up, and impossible to find. PMI's for for $40 and up, and are not always 100%. USA hicaps are crap, and unreliable.
I'll take any AK over any Mini, anyday. The AK is a fine weapon. It's hi capacity, and ultra reliable. Doesn't take a lot of work/parts, and it can even look pretty.
You can have your minis. All of them for all I care.

Easy guys. I just made the decision to buy a Romanian SAR-1 over a Mini-30. I already have a Bulgarian SLR-95 and wanted another rifle in 7.62x39. The AK and the Mini are both fine guns, but the Ruger factory hi-caps are just too damn rare and expensive. The Romanian SAR-1's won't be around forever unless things change for the better and you can still buy a Mini-30 in the PRK for petes sake so I think they will be around for a while!

Originally Posted By retrodog:
The name's not really Bill. But that's a pretty good name though. I've got a preban that I purchased back in 87-88. It shoots great. The magazines have never been a problem. You are just a shining example of all the devout anti-Ruger snobs posting on this site. The Mini-14 is a damn fine rifle. I've got AKs and ARs and all sorts of other things. The Mini-14 has been just as reliable as anything else.
Maybe you are into precision target shooting. Whatever! I can easily hit prime spots on a target at 100 yards with the Mini-14 and it's action is rock-solid. It does just exactly what it was designed for. And it is built with much more quality and structural integrity than the AK.

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Well, shucks, I ain't never been called a snob before. And a shining one too. Feels kinda good. You like to think you are knowledgeable about the political ramifications of Ruger, yet you don't know I paraphrased [b]BILL[/B] Ruger's words before the passage of the Roberti-Roo's assault weapon ban (that's in California, a state in the western United States) when [b]BILL[/b] Ruger put the final nail in the coffin by testifying there was, in his opinion, no reason for civilians (the peasantry) to own rifles capable of firing more than five shots. I own Ruger's, an AK (SLR-95), AR's, and lots of other stuff too. I guess we're even. Neener, neener.
Well, on second thought, I have never been able to hit the damned "prime spots" on a target at 100 yds., let alone do it "easily." I give. Uncle. You win. My shame is difficult to bear. I leave in disgrace. [V]

Originally Posted By thebeekeeper1:
Well, on second thought, I have never been able to hit the damned "prime spots" on a target at 100 yds., let alone do it "easily." I give. Uncle. You win. My shame is difficult to bear. I leave in disgrace. [V]

These anti-mini 14 rants always make me depressed.
Unfortunately, I did not become aware that the AR ban here in PRK existed until after it went into effect.
Now the mini is pretty much the only semi auto rifle I could purchase, and every time I start to think about getting one some conversation starts up here which turns into one huge mini bashing routine.
::sigh::
I hate california. I hate legislators who ignore the constitution as they see fit.
I hate them.

Originally Posted By CaptainSanity:
These anti-mini 14 rants always make me depressed.
Unfortunately, I did not become aware that the AR ban here in PRK existed until after it went into effect.
Now the mini is pretty much the only semi auto rifle I could purchase, and every time I start to think about getting one some conversation starts up here which turns into one huge mini bashing routine.
::sigh::
I hate california. I hate legislators who ignore the constitution as they see fit.
I hate them.

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Go with the mini. Mags are the hard part. Other than that it is a fine weapon. I didn't know what I was going to start.

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.~Ronald Reagan

I really like the way some of these guys are basing their judjment of the quality of a Mini-14 on its availability of mags and price thereof. Well the same holds true for Glocks, HK USPs, etc. etc, etc. Okay, so now your logic is implying that all weapons that are difficult or expensive to get a high capacity magazine for are not very good firearms. Well you've convinced me. I'm all ashamed. What despair I live with now. [B)]
What a crock of s#!t. I bought a buttload of AK-47 mags for $3.50 each. I guess that makes it the best weapon in existence. But wait, the Steyr Aug mags are very expensive, it must be the worst ever. Guess I'll get mine back from my dad and get rid of it as soon as possible. Hey, anybody wannna buy a Steyr Aug real cheap, cause falarak has convinced me that it is a piece of junk, based on his magazine prices theory. [:D]

Personally, I can't beleave ANYONE would buy a Mini-14 anymore for the reasons described above. If you work out the prices as follows....
Mini 14......... $350
10 Mags ($50)... $500
vs.
AR-15........ $700
10 Mags ($15) $150
The prices become the same. Now, with the AR-15 I will bet that you will end up with a gun that will shoot 1.5 MOA at worse and the Mini-14 will shoot 3.0 MOA at BEST! Then add the various extras including furnature, sights, caliber conversions, ease of maintance, cheap replacement parts, etc. etc. Why would anyone buy a Mini 14?
Sob.... well I guess I am.... just like I don't drive a YUGO or shoot a $40 Jennings pistol! I want the best and the Mini 14 isn't even close on any account!
As for the AKs.... that is a different beast as the cheap mags really are the issue. I wouldn't choose an AK over my ARs or M-16 but that doesn't mean that there isn't room in my safe for an AK someday and I am sure that my black rifles won't mind a new neighbor!
As for Bill... he doesn't deserve my money. Bushmaster and Armalite have both done more for my rights while Bill has done more against my rights.....
Just my Honest Oppinions!

www.Quarterbore.netMy guns are not worth your life, but freedom and liberty are worth mine

No one said that magazine availabilty is the sole defining virtue of any given weapon. But in a semi-auto weapon, it [b]IS[/b] a critical component. The fact that quality magazines are difficult and expensive to procure for the Mini-14 is simply one more strike against an already mediocre weapon and makes it an even less practical or desireable choice. The SteyrAUG happens to be an excellent weapon that is a less practical or desireable choice due to expensive and limited availability of parts and magazines.
For the price of a Mini-14 and 10 high capacity mags, you could have a couple of AKs and twice as many high cap mags or a decent post ban AR and a similar number of USGI 20 or 30 round mags. And with the AR or the AK you also have the benefit of having a weapon originally designed for military use and capable of being supported in the field.
If the Mini-14 was the only choice available to me, I'd accept it's significant drawbacks amd settle for it (that or move out of California). But while ARs and AKs are still available and offer the same or superior performance at similar or lower prices, well, that conclusion shouldn't be too difficult for anyone to draw.

Of course, not everyone feels the need to own enough magazines to conduct a war... 3 is plenty, so figure:
Mini-14 = $350 + 3 x $50 = $500
AR-15 = $700 + 3 x $15 = $745
Having said that, guess I should point out that I own about 30 magazines for my AR [rolleyes]

Originally Posted By marvl:
Of course, not everyone feels the need to own enough magazines to conduct a war... 3 is plenty, so figure:
Mini-14 = $350 + 3 x $50 = $500
AR-15 = $700 + 3 x $15 = $745
Having said that, guess I should point out that I own about 30 magazines for my AR [rolleyes]

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I'll be honest I ONLY have 10 20-round mags for the AR-10 but for the M-16/AR-15s I have enought to really go to war with and it's a whole lot more than 10!
As stated above, if your liberal heart only requires a 5-round mag then the Mini-14 is a good enough choice. As for me, I want a serious weapon with serious capacity and I will put my worse USGI 30-rd mag up against the BEST Ruger Mini 14 mag ($10 vs $100 mag) and at minimum I will see my $10 mag work as well and it will most likley outperform the Ruger mag.
I owned a Mini-14 at one point.... then I grew up and bought my first AR-15. That was back when Ruger was friendly to OUR cause. Now, well why have a lesser gun manufactured by a lesser man?

www.Quarterbore.netMy guns are not worth your life, but freedom and liberty are worth mine

One of the reasons that I sold all of my Mini-14s was simply because replacement parts are few and far between, and I have always thought that [b]any[/b] weapon you have should be a weapon that you could count on if the S ever actually did HTF.
Spare parts, mags and ammo are routinely available at any and all, um, National Guard Armories throughout this Country for AR-15s.
So [b]if[/b] you could only have [b]one[/b] Suburban Utility Rifle, shouldn't it be one that you can easily repair and obtain parts, magazines, ammo for?
Just makes good sense to me!
And before you ask, the answer is 'no' I never had any Mini-14 parts break on me! But why risk it?
Eric The('Course,RugerPoliticsAlsoEncouragedMeToSe­ll!)Hun[>]:)]

Well now that Quarterbore has thrown out the "L" word,,,
If I were going to buy only one SA rifle then it would be an AR-15. No question about it. But I have many. And one of them is a Mini-14. It's not the piece of s#!t that everyone is always saying. It is a great rifle. It is great for hauling around in the back of the truck and shooting a varmit with. All this other stuff is just political BS. My preban with the pistol grip and folding stock is very versatile and I only paid about $400 for it total. Of course I bought it back in 88. They aren't the best you can get. I never said that. But they are pretty good.

There was a time I thought that a Mini14 would be a perfect companion to my M1A. Then I tried to buy magazines. Some of the USAs worked, Thermolds were pretty good, but F@%K paying $85-$100 for a factory mag. That rifle has since gone away. If I were a Californian, stuck with a Mini, I'd make a drive to Nevada and spend the exhorbitant amount for factory Hi-Caps, but only if it was my only choice.(Note: I am not encouraging this kind of illegal activity, just stating that it can be done, for those of you who never considered it. Come vacation here and bring your wallet. Your wife/girlfriend will love yove you and you can pick up a couple of cool things for yourself.)
AKs are cool in that GrewupwatchingRedDawnandfearingSovietInvasion sort of way. Not my first choice for a rifle, but not my last choice either.
M15A2, congrats on the new gun.

Hey, you Mini-14 losers, er, I mean lovers better hurry up and get to the Magazines For Sale forum in the Equipment Exchange. Somebody's got factory Ruger 30 round Mini-14 mags for the bargain price of $89 each!

Originally Posted By retrodog:
Better than the Mini-14??? You are insane. The Ruger is a much better/nicer gun.
I remember the good old days when you could buy all the AK-47s you wanted for $250 each. You had to pay about $325 for a Mini-14. There was no comparison. Anybody with the extra cash would buy the Ruger in a heartbeat. People are just down on Ruger for political reasons now, for the most part.

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In what possible way is a mini-14 better/nicer than an AK?
Accuracy? Nope, my $239 SAR-2 is more accurate than any mini-14 I've ever shot.
Reliability? In your dreams
Ergonomics? Not really, they both lose big to the AR.
Price/availability of parts? Nope
I've had/have both and no longer have a mini-14. I prefer AK's and AR's and see no reason to have a mini-14. I traded a mini-14 with 6 ruger hi-cap mags for a NIB Bushmaster a few years back and do not miss the mini at all and I will never buy another one (mini-14). I have some Ruger handguns and rifles so it's not just the political thing, it's just the POS mini thing.
Complete waste of money in my opinion.

Some of you all are forgetting important facts:
Some Mini-14 owners bought their Minis pre-ban and at a lesser price than is now charged.
Some Mini-14 owners bought their Minis without the encumbrance of paperwork.
Some Mini-14 owners had the foresight to lay in an adequate supply of hi-cap mags when such were reasonably priced. Remember $30 used Ruger 30-rd mags? Inexpensive Thermolds? PMIs by the bagful? Some do.
Finally, almost any Mini's groups can be cut in HALF by installing the action in an inexpensive, quality synthetic stock.
Some Mini-14 owners bought folders, too.

"The M1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised." General George S. Patton Jr.,US Army

Why so much mini bashing? maybe its AR15.com and not Mini14.com
Mini-14 is a nice pest control gun period.
it can be a lethal is an black rifle. But in a more PC looking package.. (hay, some like to keep a low profile.) [0:)]
it goes bang when the trigger is pulled and with the same wounding potential.
Its not a sniper rifle, but the accuracy is certainly usable.